Leopard Gecko!!!.. got it... pictures :D

i am getting one!! i was going to have a "friend" come with me as she knows what i need because she has them but if you notice friend was in quotes.. she stabbed me in the back and is NOT going to shop with me..

soo i need a list of the BASIC things i need and i would like everyone's opinion rather than going and googling it to find a bunch of mixed answers. i'd also rather not ask the people in the reptile store and get ripped off when they try to sell me stuff i really don't need.

i already have a 60 gallon aquarium which once had turtles and is now in the process of getting cleaned up for my new little friend.

-Substrate (I kept my geckos on newspaper until they were full grown, now i have them on dry Eco Earth. Since they only poo in one corner i scoop the poo daily and clean the cage once a month. )

-Heat source (depending on where you live and room temp, you might need both an under tank heater and red heat bulb. You can hook the heat pad up to a cheap light dimmer to control the temp.) Never use hot rocks.

-Calcium powder ( I dust the crickets once a week with vitamin powder, and put pure calcium powder without D3 in a dish for the geckos to lick when they want it)

They are pretty simple. I have 3 normals, a jungle, and a patternless.

I used to breed these guys, they were one of my first species to work with.

Few things, a 60 gallon is huge, almost too big if your getting a little baby. They need to feel secure, huge wide open spaces equals a scared baby who thinks predators are everywhere, as well as finding food being a challenge. A 20 gallon is perfect size for an adult, 10 or 5 gallon good for a baby, (there are ways to section of the 60 gallon too).

The most important thing is to get its enclosure right, and there are a few big things to avoid despite what petstores try to get you to buy. First thing is sand, while it may look nice and seem natural infact in their native habitat these guys dont actually live on inches of loose sand, but a very hard rocky and compact ground. I prefer babies at first to be on paper towel, makes monitoring them much easier and very simple to clean. For adults I always recommend slate tile, looks very nice and is very natural to them. If you do choose to use sand only use natural playsand, run away from calcisand, vitasand, or crushed walnut shell. Those substrates have caused more deaths then people realise, geckos by nature will lick up a bit of what theyre on to take in minerals, these substrates are hard to pass and can and up blocking them. Also the astoturf or carpet isnt a good choice either, their little toes and teeth get stuck in it and its a huge pain to get clean.

Heat is also very important, another thing to run away from are hot rocks. Many reptiles have been burned from them, parts get much hotter then others and reptiles for some reason will just sit there letting themselves be burned. Best option in my opinion are undertank heaters, overheads work alright but you cant have lights on all night long and they need a little bit of heat at night. Along those lines is to be sure to pick up a good digital thermometer, not one of the sticker ones or stick to the side of the glass ones, theyre never accurate and a waste of money. Most places like walmart will sell good indoor/outdoor thermometers with a probe (usually in the housewares.hardware/electical section) and they work wonderfully, just stick the probe inside over the heat mat. Be aware some mats get way too hot, a simple cheap thermostat or rheostat (light dimmer) will solve the problem. Leopard geckos prefer a warm side around 88F, give or take a few degrees.

Hides are imprtant, they need to feel safe. Get ones very closed in and tight so the little guy can get squeezed in and comfy, at least two for the warm and cool side. Waterdish of course too. I always recommend a humid hide with them aswel, in the wild they could get into cracks and holes where its much more humid then out. A simple little plastic container with lid filled with moist moss works perfectly and will prevent nearly all shed issues.

Crickets are usually staple food wise, alhough I know many who feed mainly just mealworms in dishes. Variety is very good, dont feed to many waxworms those they are pure fat and not healthy at all. If you have access to clean insects outside thats another good food source too, just stay away from fireflies. Now they need calcium and vitamins too, you can dust the insects with it, I also always recommend a small dish with calcum powder in the enclosure too, the geckos will willingly lap it up if they feel they need it.

Lighting is optional, they dont need anything special but its always nice to be able to view them, cheap under the counter lighting works great. Decorate the cage as plain or simple as you want to spend, as long as the basics are there they will do good (assuming its healthy to begin with). Dont be afraid to research online, leos are one of the most common pet species out there and very little info is wrong.

Remember to let it settle in for at least a week before trying to handle, and try not to overdue handling too much as these guys are fairly delicate. Watch its body language so you know when its had enough. Get the enclosure set up and running before getting the gecko, so you know its temps are good enough for it, and be sure to pick out an active and healthy one, basicly if it looks sick, skinny, and lethargic pass by it.

THANK YOU! last night i got mad cuz i wrote out this big response and then my computer wasn't connected to the internet.. something with my service provider.. i was MAD! i didn't even get to talk to my bestie on BYC!

May I suggest looking into roaches, for food vs. that of crickets, a lot better meat to shell ratio.
They are very easy to breed, if you happen to have chickens or any poultry you'd be able to feed them some here and there for a snack.

I think the aspect of sand being bad was mentioned, due to the impaction risks, now if you have ever seen sand in water and how it clumps, you'll be able to see what I mean, especially on the insides of him / her.

I have never seen slate tiles for sale in pet shops, perhaps a local flooring place, would have them?
You'd want to put the heater on the outside, of the tank.
I kept my tank planted, and found that you can never have too many hides, however I will point out that hides, that seem to small, are far better then ones that seem to big, yes moist moss is far better, due to the humidity especially while, they are shedding.

I think I answered everything, if you have any more questions feel free to shoot me a PM, or something and I'll try to help or point you in the right direction, although the majority of my experience lays in African fat tailed geckos.

I love my geckos! Easy to care for and they are cute. I have 5...down from 7. I sold two that seemed to be bullying the others. I feed mine mealworms. One worm per inch of body length every other day. I let the worms grow out for a while in a plastic shoebox type container with layer mash and an apple for moisture. It's called gut loading. I also feed them bugs I find in the yard and barn. And crickets once in a while.
You got very good advice in the posts above. Enjoy them!

Quote:While Twistedserpent may have had a different idea, you could use something like plexi-glass, though it does seem as though the heat and humidity would be a bit more difficult to keep up with properly.

However, I do believe the smaller sized cage would be far easier, all around, the choice is yours obviously.

I love roaches, I used to breed dubia. Non flying non climbing no stink no noise and unless you live in tropical conditions they dont survive if they escape. Theyre just hard to get unless you have a breeder or good reptile store near you, and for only one lizards really not worth starting a colony and dealing with the panic factor other people have when you mention the word. But once you go roach you dont go back. Silkworms are also wonderful but rather pricey.

While I'm sure leos can handle it, fat tailed geckos come from a little different of an enviroment and need higher overall humidity so a planted enclosure works well for them, just not something really needed for leos to always be on moist ground.

Your 9 gallon would be a better choice, places like walmart sell smaller glass tanks for cheap too. Plexiglass or regular glass is usually the easiset to section it off with, just glue it in with aquarium grade silicone. My preferance is not even bothering though, most breeders keep their leos in plastic containers. Very cheap, easy, and convienant, they just arent that visually appealing.

Just about 99% of reptile supplies are best bought in places other then petstores, who usually extremely overprice things. Any hardware store or garden store should sell it.

The heater goes outside the tank. The thermometer is very important, reptiles die of heat much faster then they die of cold.

Three hides at least, more if the enclosure is large, not including decorations and such which are also things to hide around and under. Yes the moss must be moist or else it defeats the purpose of a humid hide.

They make dishes the mealworms cant get out of, many people just leave worms in their 24/7 while supplimenting with other bugs.

Also, if your willing to throw in a bit (or a lot) of extra money look online for breeders, there are a ton of different morphs out there. Petstores do get in a few of them though, usually albinos, blizzards, jungles and other common ones.

While on the subject of geckos I used to keep these guys too, called cave leopard geckos, although not really related. Hard to find for sale though, not many people working with them so most available are imported from the wild still, which can be challenging.

the therometer i bought also checks humidty, what is an ideal humidty?

and also, if i use my 9 gallon, will i need to transfer the gecko to a larger tank (if i get a baby, i haven't looked around for a gecko yet) or will a 9 gallon be okay for an adult? too small?

ETA: i went and found on google that 10 gallons per gecko is ideal.. so 9 gallons should be good right?

i am getting waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay excited now. i was going to wait for a friend to finish school to go shopping with me but i am going to get the supplies today and then get the gecko itself when she is done LOL